Why You Should Paint Your Kitchen Yellow

If you’re selling your house, this hue can give you a better selling price.

By
Sarah Yang

Before you put your home on the market, it’s smart to spruce it up a bit, from amping up your curb appeal to making changes to the interiors. Giving a room a fresh coat of paint is one surefire way to update a space without spending a ton of money. A fresh hue can brighten a space and make it cleaner.

But don’t pick up the paintbrush just yet—choose your colors wisely because certain hues may help a house to sell for more money, while others could actually be a detriment to your listing. In a recent survey, Zillow Digs looked at photos from 50,000 sold homes around the country and found interesting trends on popular (and profitable) paint colors for certain rooms in the house.

The most surprising finding was that yellow kitchens (in creamy or wheat yellow) sold for $1,360 more than the expected value, while white kitchens sold for much less. White kitchens are often thought to look cleaner and brighter, but prospective buyers seem to lean towards warmer colors. On the other hand, sellers might want to stay away from darker colors like slate gray in dining rooms or terracotta in living rooms, as homes with those hues could sell for almost $1,100 less. Interestingly, purples (mauve, eggplant, or lavender) in dining rooms could increase a home’s value by $1,122. “When selling a home you want to attract as many buyers to your listing as possible,” Kerrie Kelly, a Zillow Digs home design expert, says. “Warm, neutral colors, like yellow and light gray are inviting and clean, but aren’t style specific. Homes with these wall colors will appeal to the masses so potential buyers, regardless of their design preference, will be able to easily envision themselves living in the space.”

Take a closer look at how certain paint colors in rooms can increase or decrease a home’s selling price: